Against All Odds
by CET15
Summary: My first story. More vignettes will be added periodically.


It was December 20th, and Milwaukee was covered in a light snow, among other things (including dead cannibals). The better half of the residents of Crossroads Mall sat around _Hallowed Grounds_, sipping hot drinks. With the exception of the apocalypse, the Holidays were going okay. Nicole had the idea of playing Christmas music, which was just audible over the growls, snarls, and screeches of the 'crazies' outside.

"So, guys," Ana began, sitting on the counter of the coffee stand. "What's at the top of your Christmas list this year? I mean, I know we can have whatever we want in the mall, but given the situation, what do you want most?" Ana surveyed the group sitting before her, randomly picking somebody to start with. "Steve, how about you?" Ana said. If he was going to be a grouch, she might as well get it out of the way so it wouldn't ruin the mood.

"Distilled liquor." Steve said, tipping his mug upside down for dramatic effect. "…and plenty of it." Everybody laughed the way they did every time Steve told a joke; they chuckled a bit, and slowly realized that he may be serious, and stopped.

The group saw the potential of Ana's little game, and they all put in their two cents. "I'd like a Bass-Master Fishing Set," Tucker said, grazing back what little hair he had left before putting his cap back on. "I wouldn't say no to a new truck," Norma joked. Currently her old rig was parked outside the loading dock. It was the heavenly piece of machinery that brought Norma, Tucker, Glen, Steve, Monica, Nicole, and Frank to Crossroads.

"A new bible, probably." said Glen. As usual, Crossroads' own evangelist was discussing religion. Ana saw Steve open his mouth, but shot him a piercing look. After all, it was Christmas. Buying stuff and praying were the two things people did on Christmas, depending on the type of person they were. Steve shut up and the circle continued to tell their hearts desires to their comrades.

"I'd like to be able to watch TV again," Kenneth said out of the blue. It was a general answer. Ana smiled to herself, picturing Kenneth coming home from work and flipping on _Wheel of Fortune_, or something. Picturing Kenneth try to guess the solutions to the puzzles almost made Ana gag up some coffee.

"Shelby Cobra," muttered CJ quickly, as if he didn't want people to hear. Looking up, CJ noticed that everybody was looking at him. "It's a car, dumbasses," he said. Everybody nodded. CJ seemed the type to be really big on cars. Ana looked at Bart. He gave a look that he wasn't in the mood to answer, and so she skipped over him to…

"Monica… What's on your list?" Ana said, her voice sounding almost nervous to ask. Monica took a drag from her cigarette, put it out, and blew the smoke out into the air in that sassy way she always did. "Some new heels, probably," Monica said, sounding uninterested but definitely enjoying the moment. "I don't know, girl. The world's a crazy place. Some good champagne?" Monica walked off.

"Hey Terry," Bart said, breaking his long-term silence. "What do you want, man? Some _Queen _CDs? Fuzzy pink slippers? What?" Bart gave a long laugh, but unfortunately it was shared with nobody. For the past week or so (even after Terry and Nicole were officially "dating"), and for God knows how long before so, Bart had been using excessive gay jokes on Terry, who had, for the same amount of time, been shrugging them off.

"I want some new people around here to talk to." Terry said. "Like some real, live people. Andy's interesting, but carrying on a conversation with him takes a lot of time, and a few markers. Some new additions to the group would be cool." Terry took a sip of lukewarm coffee, turning to the enthusiastic redhead at his side. "What about you?"

"A computer." Nicole said. "If you think about it, the Internet would still work and stuff, so if we had a phone connection, we'd be able to go online and stuff." She matted down Terry's hair and waved to everybody else before running up to the stairs that led to the roof, where she and Terry slept.

"Ana," Terry said, his voice cracking as he elevated his voice. "What do you want?" Ana shrugged. "A pet. A cat, probably." Terry frowned. "What's wrong with Chips?"

"I'm allergic to dogs," Ana said. Terry got up. "Well, it's been fun. Goodnight, guys." Terry threw his trash out in the bin and walked upstairs, calling it a night. The main corridor of the mall was silent as Michael and Ana sat across from each other at Hallowed Grounds. The timers kicked in, turning off the lights until 8:00 a.m. the next morning.

"Michael?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you want for Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Quanza, or whatever you celebrate?"

Michael gave a short laugh as he thought, really thought, in the dark. What did he want for Christmas? What would be useful? Weapons to use against the zombies outside? Something fun for everyone, or maybe just for him? "Hmph," he said, trapped in his own mind. "Probably another mall, or something."


End file.
